Albert Schweitzer's Ethical Vision A Sourcebook

Predrag Cicovacki

Albert Schweitzer's leading philosophical idea was "reverence for life": good consists in maintaining and perfecting life, evil in destroying and obstructing life. For Schweitzer, all life is sacred, and ethics deals with human attitudes and behavior toward all living beings. Unlike most other moral philosophers, Schweitzer argues that knowledge of human nature does not lead to any unique moral theory. For that reason, he bases his ethics on much broader foundations, articulated in his philosophy of civilization and philosophy of religion. His central idea is that the material element of our civilization has become far more important than its spiritual counterpart. Even organized religion has put itself in the service of politics and economics, thereby losing its
vitality and moral authority. Schweitzer's ethics of reverence for life, argues Predrag Cicovacki, offers a viable alternative at a time when traditional ethical theories are found inadequate. Collecting fifteen of Schweitzer's most effective essays, this volume serves as a compelling introduction to this remarkable thinker.

Albert Schweitzer's Ethical Vision A Sourcebook

Predrag Cicovacki

Description

The philosophy of Albert Schweitzer has proved widely influential in modern thinking, especially in the field of ethics. His leading ethical idea can be summarized in the phrase "reverence for life" - namely, that good consists in maintaining and perfecting life, and evil consists in destroying and obstructing life. For Schweitzer, all life is sacred. Ethics thus deals with human attitudes and behavior toward all living beings.Unlike many moral philosophers, Schweitzer argues that knowledge of human nature does not provide a sufficient foundation for any adequate moral theory. That is why he bases his ethics on much broader foundations, articulated in his philosophy of civilization and the philosophy of religion. Schweitzer argues that the material aspect of
our civilization has become far more important than its spiritual counterpart. Even organized religion has put itself in the service of politics and economy, thereby losing its vitality and moral authority.Schweitzer's ethics of reverence for life, argues Predrag Cicovacki, offers a viable alternative at a time when traditional ethical theories are found inadequate. Schweitzer's robust and un-dogmatic idealism may offer the best antidote to the prevailing relativism and nihilism of the postmodern epoch. His ethical vision directs us toward a new way of building a more just and more peaceful world. Collecting sixteen of Schweitzer's most effective essays, this volume serves as a compelling introduction to this remarkable thinker and humanist.

Albert Schweitzer's Ethical Vision A Sourcebook

Predrag Cicovacki

Table of Contents

IntroductionPART I - A Foundation of the Ethics of Reverence for Life: A Philosophy of Religion and Philosophy of Civilization 1. Western and Indian Thought2. The Historical Jesus3. The Kingdom of God4. Religion in Modern Civilization5. The Decay of CivilizationPART II - The Ethics of Reverence for Life 6. Civilization and Ethics7. The Optimistic World-View in Kant8. Schopenhauer and Nietzsche's Quest for Elementary Ethics11. The Problem of Ethics in the Evoution of Human ThoughtPART III - "My Life is My Argument." The Application of the Ethics of Reverence for Life 12. Bach and the Aesthetics13. Goethe the Philosopher14. Gandhi and the Force of Nonviolence15. The Problem of Peace
in the World of Today16. My Life is My ArgumentChronologyBibliography

Albert Schweitzer's Ethical Vision A Sourcebook

Predrag Cicovacki

Author Information

Predrag Cicovacki is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Peace Studies at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA. He is author of Dostoevsky and the Affirmation of Life and Between Truth and Illusion: Kant at the Crossroads of Modernity.